


from me to you

by shmichaelbyers



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, Eventual Smut, Fluff, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Mutual Pining, Romance, Slow Burn, i guess?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-07-26 01:09:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20035369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shmichaelbyers/pseuds/shmichaelbyers
Summary: taeyong wants to make friends, but is scary due to his shy nature. thanks to jaehyun, one of the most popular boys in his class, he might have a chance at not only friends, but maybe something more, too.ORjaeyong as the anime “kimi ni todoke”





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> for those of you who have watched this anime, this is the character that i based the members off of:
> 
> kazehaya shouta- jaehyun  
kuronuma sawako- taeyong  
sanada ryuu- jungwoo  
yoshida chiziru- lucas  
yano ayane- ten  
arai kazuichi- johnny  
miura kento- taeil  
kurumizawa ume- winwin  
sanada tooru- kun

taeyong was quite nervous, to say the least. for the past week he’s been feeling the pit in his stomach grow larger as the time went by. yeah, maybe he’s overreacting, but it’s his first year of high school. 

he looked at the floor for awhile, deciding that his shoes were more interesting than all of the sakura trees in full bloom. all he could hear was the sound of his steps on the cement and the slight wind blowing through the trees. that is, until,

“hey, excuse me?” taeyong’s head perked up in surprise. his eyes widened for a second as he looked in front of him. “do you happen to know where sm high school is?” 

taeyong felt his face flush nearly as pink as his hair. 

“i-it’s, um, th-this way,” he stuttered. he pointed to a street on the left. “i-i’m heading there myself.” 

“thanks so much! have a nice day!” the other boy said with a warm smile that made taeyong’s heart melt just a little. 

‘thank you?! he said thank you!’ 

normally, taeyong wouldn’t be so worried about what others thought about him. actually, that’s a lie. but this was super important because this was jung jaehyun. he was always nice to everyone, even taeyong, and it seemed as if he had some magical aura around him. everyone was naturally drawn to him. not only his personality, but his looks were amazing too. 

rarely does anyone ever talk to taeyong. if they have to, then they always just seem tense and apologize over and over. he never really understood why, but the other students always seemed afraid of him. he would greet them everyday, try to talk with them in class, and overall just thought he was being pretty friendly. he always heard rumors around that he was cursed due to his scary nature. he wasn’t trying to be scary though. he wanted to be like jaehyun, bubbly and lively, with lots of friends. 

taeyong couldn’t stop twirling his hair on his finger and chewing on his lip the whole walk to school. 

taeyong just sat himself in some random seat when he got to his class. it didn’t really matter since seats would be picked from a hat when the teacher got there. he tried not to notice when the seats next to him stayed empty for the longest. 

instead, he just focused on when the teacher would arrive. it’s been a few minutes since the first bell had rung and the second bell would ring in only a minute, meaning they’re late. 

then, a pretty young looking man walked in. taeyong would’ve thought it was a student if he was wearing one of the uniforms. instead, he was wearing a thick sweater with dress pants. he gave jaehyun a wave before he rushed over to the super tall teacher and gave him a high five. they chatted a bit before the man actually started the lesson. perhaps they were friends? that seemed a bit odd. 

“hello, everyone. i’ll be your class teacher, mr. seo. it’s nice to meet you all and i hope we have a nice year,” he said with a smile. taeyong thought again that he looked way too young to be a teacher. he was actually pretty handsome, too, so he knew he would have to deal with watching the students flirt with mr. seo. “i was told there was a seating arrangement. class leader jaehyun, would you please explain, if you don’t mind?” jaehyun nodded before going to the front desk of the class. 

“basically, the desk numbers go in rows. number one is front left according to me, and number 24 is the back right. there’s a small baggy here, so just pick your number and go to the corresponding seat. simple,” he said. he pulled out the small bag as students began lining up to the front. taeyong wondered how one could sound so charismatic when he was just explaining seating arrangements. taeyong went up to the desk during his turn, but there were a few students in the way of the bag, talking to jaehyun. 

“um, e-excuse me...” taeyong mumbled, his face stiff and eyes empty due to nerves. 

“s-sorry, taeyong!! w-we’ll move right away!!” one of the girls, chaeyoung he thinks, blurts before grabbing her friends hand and rushing away quickly. taeyong frowned to himself a bit. 

he stuck his hand in the small baggy. 

“taeyong, let me know what number you get, okay?” jaehyun says with a smile. taeyong drops his jaw slightly. he knows that the girl had just said his name, but he was still a bit surprised that jaehyun had paid enough attention to get his name. taeyong realized he was staring and picks out a paper quickly. 

“uh, e-eighteen.” jaehyun gives him a playful pout. 

“that’s too bad, i have number three.” taeyong nodded quickly and walked away. he knew jaehyun was only being nice, but it still made his heart flutter. 

he walked towards his seat, hearing people hold their breath as he walked by. when he dropped his bag down, the boy in seat seventeen rushes to the front of the room. 

“jaehyun, do you mind if i, you know, switch seats?” the boy asked. jaehyun furrowed his brows in confusion and maybe in frustration a little. 

“your seat is fine, hoseok.” 

“yeah, but, you know...” he raises his eyebrows expectantly, but jaehyun just crosses him arms. “i can’t see the board well.” jaehyun lets out a huff. obviously, that wasn’t the reason. 

“fine, just switch with me then,” he said. taeyong hears small gasps around the room. 

“are you sure? you really don’t have to,” hoseok asks. he almost seems concerned. 

“yeah, i can see just fine from there.” jaehyun picks up his bag and sits in seat seventeen, right next to taeyong. the class goes quiet for a good minute before mr. seo starts talking to break the silence. 

taeyong decided that he needs to show his appreciation in some way. he leans over and tugs on jaehyun’s dress shirt sleeve. jaehyun turns to him with a confused look. taeyong goes a bit closer to whisper to him. 

“th-thank you.” he pulls back quickly and starts twiddling him thumbs, something that he picked up from being shy. it’s too bad he couldn’t see jaehyun’s ears turn a bit red. 

“yeah, no problem.”


	2. two

taeyong couldn’t stop thinking about jaehyun. he couldn’t stay still since he sat next to him, even for the couple months that had passed. he kept giving him subtle glances in class and secretly hoping that he would get a chance to talk to him sometime. of course, this didn’t usually happen, but a man can dream. 

“class, as you know, there will be summer break soon. it may sound kind of annoying, but there are some jobs during the break to help clean up the school throughout the next couple weeks. extra credit will be given out if you volunteer. does anyone want this job?” mr. seo explained. taeyong glanced around for a second. no one else was raising their hand and everyone seemed to just groan at the thought of it. 

‘well, i guess if no one else will...’

“um, mr. seo?” taeyong mumbled as he raised his hand slightly. “i can do it, i-if that’s okay with you.” 

the teacher smiled and nodded. it wasn’t unusual for taeyong to take up jobs like this. he knew that none of the other students would, and he felt glad to help often. 

“that seems a bit unfair, doesn’t it? he does all of the jobs just because no one else wants to,” jaehyun blurts out. taeyong’s eyes widen. he didn’t think that jaehyun would notice something like that. 

“i-it’s fine, i really don’t have anything to do anyway,” taeyong mumbled. jaehyun gave him a look with questioning in his eyes. “please, just let me do it.”

mr. seo shrugged. “if you insist.” he gave the rest of the summer break talk, but taeyong couldn’t stop his heart from beating out of his chest. “well, now that i’m done with this talk, jaehyun has something organized he would like to talk about.”

“there will be a bravery event as a celebration for the beginning of break. it’s going to take place in the forest on campus and it’s going to be a haunted walk of sorts. i have a paper here, so sign up if you’d like to come. everyone is invited!” jaehyun says with a smile. he tapes a sign up sheet to the board in the front of the classroom. 

‘everyone?’

“i wonder is taeyong is going to go, he’d make it scary for sure,” he heard someone whispering. maybe he will go.

“taeyong-hyung!!” 

said boy looks up from the garden of flowers he was watering. it was nearly the end of school before break, so he figured he’d water the school’s plants today. 

“doyoungie, what’s up?” he said with a smile. he was happy to at least have one good friend, if not anyone else. 

“how’s your class been? are you making friends okay?” doyoung asks with a smile. 

“ah, well, not really. but it’s alright! jaehyun has been pretty nice to me though. i think people are just naturally attracted to him since he’s always nice,” he said with a smile. 

“yeah, i guess he does have the energy that people are drawn to.”

“i feel like he’s full of energy all of the time, really. he-“

“hyung!” taeyong looks at doyoung who’s motioning his head towards the school window. he turns his head nervously to see jaehyun perched at the window. it felt as if the world had just become 10 degrees hotter. 

“is that a good or a bad thing?” jaehyun asks. he looks offended, maybe he received it as an insult. doyoung was giving him a look of pure worry. 

“i-i meant it as a compliment!” taeyong said with all of the courage he could muster. he could only keep eye contact for a few seconds before he was back to looking at his feet. 

“wait one second, i’ll be right there.” jaehyun walks off to go to the door, he presumes. 

“i’m glad you have jaehyun in your class. people say it bothers him when someone doesn’t fit in. see you!” doyoung shouts as he began to run off. 

‘so that’s why he’s talking to me. he really is nice...’

“did you really mean it as a compliment?” jaehyun’s voice breaks taeyong out of his thoughts. he quickly turns around after placing the watering can down. 

“y-yeah, of course. i could never have anything bad to say about you.” oh my god, why would he say something like that?! he sounded creepy didn’t he?!

“that makes me relieved. i always thought you hated me for some reason.” what? did he hear him right?

“hate you? o-of course not! you’ve been so nice to me and i really appreciate it...” taeyong trails off as he sees jaehyun’s smile. he blushes and looks away quickly when he meets his eyes. 

“i hope i see you at the event, taeyong,” jaehyun says before walking away. taeyong couldn’t bring himself to say anything else at the moment. 

‘i guess it wouldn’t be such a big deal if i signed up. it’s already after school, so no one will notice, right?’ 

taeyong slides the classroom door open, but freezes when he sees two other students in the classroom. he’s pretty sure their names are ten and yukhei. they both turn to look at him. 

“oh, hey taeyong. w-what are you doing here?” ten asks. there was fear slightly evident in his voice. 

“i-i was wondering if i could sign up for the event. people seem to be scared of me, so maybe i could be a ghost or something. but i’m sorry, i’m not cursed or anything...” taeyong doesn’t want to disappoint anyone. if they think he should go, then he’ll be the scariest ghost he can be. 

taeyong was holding his breath in the tense atmosphere, but it was suddenly interrupted when ten burst out into laughter. 

“really? why didn’t you say something? that’s kinda super funny,” he said between chuckles. 

“a-ah, well, i never really got the chance. i didn’t think it would change much,” taeyong stuttered out. 

yukhei sniffed and wiped an imaginary tear from his eyes. “if only we had known. are you really going to do this for everyone?” 

ten gave him a slap on the arm. “calm down. you’re so sensitive,” he grumbled. 

“i-i’d really like to help! i-if that’s okay with you guys...” taeyong played with his fingers. 

“of course!! but don’t tell anyone, ok? it’s a super secret!!” yukhei said with a grin. taeyong giggled a little behind his hands. 

“why does it need to be a secret, stupid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, i had accidentally put the seat switching first, but oh well. after the fee chapters it will probably be a little different to more suit taeyong and jaehyun!!
> 
> thanks for reading!!


	3. three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soft boi hours uwu
> 
> thanks for reading!!

“has anyone seen taeyong?”

“oh, actually, he’s—“

“shh!!” yukhei put a hand over ten’s mouth and the other boy rolled his eyes. “i wonder how he’s doing,” yukhei whispered. 

taeyong was sitting alone among the trees. it was night time, so he felt like he should be scared, but he really wasn’t he loved the night time and was honestly excited to help out his classmates. 

when he heard the first group, he hid behind a tree and peeked his head out to make a scary face. the two students went screaming and running, shouting about how there was a ghost. taeyong felt himself smile, it really did work!

all was going well and taeyong was very happy with himself. he heard the next students approaching and stepped out to scare them like normal. he bit his lip and brushed his hair over his face. 

“taeyong-hyung?” 

at this, taeyong tripped and let out a small yelp, accidentally biting his lip super hard, causing it to bleed. he stumbled back to his feet and tasted iron on his tongue. 

“taeyong-hyung, are you okay?!” jaehyun ran over to him quickly. 

“j-jaehyun, i—“

“no, don’t talk your lip is bleeding,” he said softly. he placed his hands on both sides of taeyong’s face and gently rubbed his lip with one ofhis fingers. taeyong hissed in pain. “ah, s-sorry.” 

jaehyun shuffled on of his hands in his pocket and pulled out a tissue. he held it on taeyong’s lip and held his head steady with his other hand on the back off his neck. taeyong looked up to jaehyun with wide eyes. 

“j-jeez, don’t look at me like that,” jaehyun stuttered and turned his face away as pink dusted his cheeks. 

“sorry, i-i didn’t mean to look scary,” taeyong whispered and looked away. 

“that’s not what i meant. don’t make me say it. it’s embarrassing,” jaehyun mumbled. he looked back down at taeyong’s lips and finished wiping the blood away, giving it a final brush over with his thumb. 

taeyong looked back up and they held eye contact for a little while, jaehyun’s thumb still on his lip. jaehyun pulled his chin a bit closer and they closed their eyes slowly. 

“taeyong? jaehyun? is that you guys?” 

the two quickly pulled away from each other, faces turning red. 

“yukhei, you ruined lovey-dovey time,” ten said and slapped yukhei on his arm. 

“ohhh! sorry, continue.”

“th-there was no lovey-dovey time! h-he was only helping me w-with something!” taeyong shouted, then burrying his face in his hands. 

“y-yeah,” jaehyun agreed. ten rolled his eyes. 

“sure, whatever. i came to check on you, but it seems you’re doing alright. here.” ten tossed a bottle of tea to taeyong’s feet. 

“keep up the good work!” yukhei called as they continued on the path. taeyong looked from his hands and picked up the bottle of tea. 

“th-they’re so kind to me...” he said under his breath. he sat down on the grass and looked at the bottle. it was only tea, but it still made him unreasonably happy. jaehyun followed suit and sat down next to taeyong. 

“i guess you’re making friends easier now. they seem to like you a lot,” jaehyun says. 

“i feel like it’s thanks to you, though.”

“i haven’t done anything.”

“th-that’s not true!” taeyong looked up at jaehyun. “it’s you who gave me the courage to speak up. you’re so cheerful and nice to everyone, even me,” he said. 

“you say that as if you don’t deserve it. you should be treated like anyone else,” jaehyun said with a frown. taeyong looked back at the ground. 

“it’s just that everyone is scared of me so—“

“i’m not scared of you.” jaehyun placed a hand on taeyong’s shoulder, causing taeyong to look back up at him. his face looked sincere and it made taeyong’s heart flutter. he averted his eyes quickly. 

“i-i’m glad,” taeyong whispered and felt his cheeks heat up. it wasn’t even all that much of a compliment, but it still felt like one. 

“now, to announce the results of the bravery test!” everyone was gathered around jaehyun who had the paper of results. 

“well, first off, you didn’t even finish! i heard you were busy talking to taeyong,” one of the boys said. 

“maybe he was trying to make a move!” another one said. 

“we were just talking, guys,” jaehyun said and rolled his eyes. 

“as your punishment—“ someone pushed taeyong closer to jaehyun. “—you have to date taeyong for a week!” 

“g-guys, he shouldn’t have to—“

“no way am i doing that,” jaehyun said. his eyebrows furrowed and he clearly looked a little angry. 

“hey, no need to be rude,” ten muttered. 

“isn’t making taeyong part of the punishment taking it a bit far? it obviously would make him feel bad and it’s very rude to suggest something like that,” jaehyun said. “just ignore them, taeyong.”

at this point, taeyong was honestly worried. if jaehyun was associated with him so often, people might start to like him less. 

“i-it’s really not like that!” taeyong shouted. everyone looked at him. “h-he was just talking to me because i got hurt. he was being nice! of course i admire his personality because of this, but that’s all,” he finished. “s-so excuse me.” taeyong stepped out of the classroom to walk home quickly. 

for the first few days of summer, saddness kept tugging at at taeyong’s heart. he knew he did the right thing, but if what he was saying was true, then he knows jaehyun won’t talk to him again after break. that’s how it should be, so why was he so upset?

taeyong was taking a walk down the road where jaehyun first talked to him. it felt so bittersweet. tears started to pool in his eyes. 

“taeyong-hyung?” his head perked up at the familiar voice. he sniffed at wiped at his eyes. 

“jaehyun?” the boy gave taeyong a smile and walked over to him. 

“here’s a gift from our class. it’s a thank you for the bravery test, and also an apology. they feel bad about what they did,” jaehyun said as he handed taeyong a small bag with a ribbon tied. 

“th-thank you,” taeyong said, sniffing again. 

“i feel like you don’t really understand how i feel,” jaehyun said. taeyong looked up at him and shook his head. 

“no, don’t worry about me. i understand that—“

“no, you don’t.” jaehyun looked at him with a serious face. “is it alright if i expect to see you over the summer?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do yall think hendery knows that even though hes new that hes still loved??? bc if he doesnt know then like ill tell him 
> 
> thanks for reading!!

“is it alright if i expect to see you over the summer?” 

silence. jaehyun felt his heart beating out of his chest. he may seem confident, but he’s crumbling on this inside. taeyong gave him the sweetest smile. 

“r-really? do you mean that you’ll help with the summer chores at school?” taeyong said with eyes bright. 

“i mean—“

“thank you so much! this is why i always had so much respect for you! you’re so kind, jaehyun!” 

ah, so he had read the situation wrong. it was a respectful admiration, nothing more.   
~  
jaehyun’s face turned red at the thought. he burried his head in his arms. 

“no! nothing like that!” he said, his voice muffled. he felt super embarrassed that he thought taeyong had liked him and almost spilled his guts. 

the next morning was cloudy and full of rain. taeyong didn’t mind, though. he had a nice umbrella to bring to school with him. that is, until he saw it. 

a puppy!

there was a puppy in a box on the side of the road that he passed while he was walking. it was super tiny and light brown and he loved it so much already. he pulled a bit of food from his backpack to share, but he felt like it wasn’t enough. he wished he could bring him to school, but he knew he couldn’t. 

he decided just to leave, but his conscience got the better of him. 

so, that’s why he showed up to school drenched and umbrella-less. 

“taeyong? are you ok?” ten had asked as he walked into the room. 

“oh, i’m fine, just wet from the rain,” he said, but his shiver had shown otherwise. 

“oh, taeyong. so noble!” yukhei rushed over to give him a hug. “i’ll warm you up, ok?” 

taeyong pushed him away before he could. “no, no! you’ll get all wet!” he cried. 

“idiot,” ten mumbled. taeyong figured he would just have to deal with being cold today, but something was thrown over his head, covering his eyes. 

“hm? what’s this?” he asked. he pulled the cloth into his hands and saw it was a small towel. 

“you can borrow it if you’d like,” a voice said from behind him. jaehyun peaked around from taeyong’s side and gave him a smile. taeyong covered his pink cheeks with the small cloth. 

“th-thanks,” he whispered. 

“oh man, what have we got here? jaehyun is such a gentleman!” ten teased. yukhei chuckled. 

“yup, he’s even letting taeyong borrow his towel,” yukhei said and wiggled his eyebrows. 

“al-alright, guys. that’s enough,” jaehyun stuttered and waved his hands. taeyong wiped his face with the towel and started drying out his hair. he looked up at jaehyun with wide eyes and he met the other boy’s dark chocolate ones. 

jaehyun took in taeyong’s looks. his cheeks and nose were flushed, presumably from the cold, and he had water dripping down the sides of his face. the towel was over his head, some of his light pink hair peeking out. his lips looked chapped and jaehyun wondered what kind of chapstick he used. not that he was starting at his mouth or anything. he thought taeyong looked so pure and innocent like this. 

“jaehyun? is something wrong?” taeyong asked, his head tilting to the side a little. jaehyun felt like his heart was going to burst. he shook his head. 

“nope, everything is fantastic.” jaehyun glanced down at taeyong’s uniform. “is that uniform going to be okay to wear all day? you might catch a cold,” he asked. 

taeyong shook his head. “i’m sure i’ll be alright.” jaehyun frowned. 

“do you guys have any extra uniforms?” he asked ten and yukhei. they both shoo their heads. 

“sorry, taeyongie,” yukhei said. jaehyun sighed. 

“i think i have an extra button up in my locker if you’d like to wear it,” he said. taeyong’s face lit up. 

“really? thank you so much!” he said. jaehyun went to his locker quickly and brought back his shirt. taeyong smiled and gave a quick thanks before going off to the bathroom. 

“very smooth, jaehyun. i see what you’re up to,” ten said. “giving him your shirt. clever move.” 

“it’s not like that. i just wanted to make sure he wouldn’t get sick.”

“okay, okay. whatever you say prince charming. here’s your little princess now,” ten said and pointed at the door. jaehyun rolled his eyes at the name, but choked on his own spit as he turned to look at taeyong. 

the button up fit around his shoulders, but it got too big from there. the sleeves hung past his hands and the bottom of the torso was nearly up to his mid thigh. it nearly drowned out his petite arms and waist. 

“your shirt smells good, jaehyun,” taeyong mumbled, as if he was talking to himself. jaehyun stood and stared. this was all just too much for him. taeyong noticed and his face heated up. “i-i didn’t mean for it to sound weird! i’m sorry! does it look odd on me?” jaehyun snapped out of his little trance and shook his head. 

“no, i think you look perfect.” there were many other things jaehyun could have said to not sound like a total creep. maybe something like ‘the shirt fits you alright,’ or maybe, ‘you don’t look odd.’ but nope! jaehyun had to go with that one. 

“thanks...” taeyong said softly with a smile. 

“y-yeah, sure.”


End file.
